WASHINGTON -- Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donetsk region have confirmed that they are holding a blogger from eastern Ukraine who contributes to the Ukrainian Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), according to a former Ukrainian lawmaker. The journalist, Stanislav Aseyev, who writes under the name Stanislav Vasin, first went missing on June 2.

Yehor Firsov, a long-time acquaintance of Aseyev’s, wrote on Facebook on July 16 that Aseyev's mother was allowed to visit him in separatist custody. Firsov also wrote that the separatists have accused Aseyev of espionage and threatened him with up to 14 years in prison.

RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic said earlier that Aseyev’s detention, if true, is “deeply alarming and lawless,” and that he fears the blogger’s life could be at risk. “We demand that he be released immediately, and that his safety be guaranteed.”

Prior to his disappearance, Aseyev, who has referred to his efforts to chronicle daily life under conditions of war in the Donetsk region as “my education,” published unflinching texts and photos about current news and military developments, and posted about shopping, entertainment and culture both in separatist and non-separatist controlled cities. He has also covered such issues related to the conflict as reactions among Donetsk residents to the apparent assassination in October, 2016 of the notorious Russia-backed separatist commander known as “Motorola.”